Paris, 1871: Despite being heavily
indebted to Lupin (Dan Herzberg,
BEAU TRAVAIL) - whose assistance allowed the brothel to
continue to operate during the siege (1870-1871), the brothel's
madame Hortense (Valérie Karsenti, THE HEDGEHOG) refuses
to allow the Baron du Plessis (Quentin Baillot) to settle
thirty-five-year-old prostitute Vera’s (Anne Charrier, PARIS
COUNTDOWN) debt (and thus free her from the brothel and
Hortense’s attentions). Vera forces the issue by informing Lupin
about the offer, and he threatens Hortense who accepts the
baron’s money to make her own payments. Soon after the baron is
murdered by Brice Caboche (Serge Dupuy) who stages it to look
like a robbery; however, he has made off with a necklace which
he gives to prostitute Angele (Blandine Bellavoir) which is
noticed by Vera. Suspecting that Hortense had the baron
murdered, Vera – forced to return to service – manipulates the
investigation of Inspector Tarcy (Sébastien Libessart, TIME
REGAINED), but also manages to alienate her fellow
prostitutes even as she is trying to turn them against Hortense.
As Hortense comes under more pressure from Lupin and the
investigation – as well as a maniac who has already scarred one
of her girls with acid and may strike again – she also rejects
an offer of investment by her brother manipulative Paul (Nicolas
Briançon, MUTANTS) who wants to use the brothel’s client list to
buy his way into society (and Vera may prove a worthy ally).

Into this web of intrigue comes young Rosalie (Jemima West, TV's
THE BORGIAS) in search of her long-lost mother who she wants to
attend her upcoming wedding. She skulks outside of the Maison
Close brothel nightly asking patrons if they know of her mother.
On the night of Vera's farewell celebration, seemingly
benevolent artist Edgar (Lannick Gautry, DISTRICT 13:
ULTIMATUM) helps Rosalie gain entrance into the brothel,
only to sell the virginal girl – who is sure to fetch a high
price for that virtue – to the house's keeper Marguerite
(Catherine Hosmalin, MAMMUTH) who cooks up a false debt
that leaves her the choice of either working in the mills or in
the brothel. Corrupt Commander Angelus [Jean-Marie Frin,
FEMME FATALE] threatens to arrest her fiancé as a rebel when
the proud girl chooses the former. After her fiancé abandons
her, Rosalie – rechristened “Rose” – continues the search for
her mother even as her virginity is to be auctioned off to the
highest bidder.

Actually quite chaste when it comes to onscreen depictions of
sex, the first season of MAISON CLOSE grabs the viewer's
attention with a series of fast-moving, interconnecting soapy
intrigues that touch upon corruption, power, politics, and the
dirty secrets of politicians and aristocrats (not so hard to
imagine nowadays). Hortense and the prostitutes become –
willingly or not – accomplices, victims (one journalist client
attempts to tie the baron's murder to a political rival through
Angele), or manipulators (and sometimes working at opposing
goals with one another). There’s nothing glamorous in the
depiction of brothel setting or the things the girls will do to
get out of it (whether establishing relationships with older
clients or escaping mentally through drugs as Rosalie does for
the middle section of the first season), and power grabs
inevitably give way to greater complications. Indeed, the first
season’s truly gripping finale is not so neatly wrapped up by
the seemingly shrewd machinations of Hortense, but unbalanced by
the plans of others within the brothel working towards similar
ends. The soundtrack mixes classical tracks with anachronistic
song choices from the likes of The Bumps (the rhythms of “Please
Come Down” dictate the choreography of actor and camera movement
in the busy opening scene of the first episode), The Troggs,
Micky Green, Brazilian Girls, and the like; but we’ve seen
(heard) this technique in period films before so it doesn’t
distract, but it doesn’t really comment either (incidentally,
this approach was also used in Bertrand Bonello’s similarly-set
2011 feature HOUSE OF PLEASURES).

Arrow Films has
released MAISON CLOSE: SEASON ONE on DVD and
Blu-ray (HERE).
The two-disc DVD version features all eight episodes on two
discs (specs online incorrectly list it as three disc). The
compression of three and a half-hours on each dual-layer disc is
better with this HD-lensed production than it is with some of
Arrow's older TV titles. The French audio is Dolby Digital 2.0
stereo only, although the French editions have 5.1 audio but no
subtitles (the audio configuration of the Arrow Blu-ray
is know know, but some of their other 1080P releases have had
5.1 tracks while the equivalent DVDs have had stereo mixes
only). The English subtitles are error-free. There are
absolutely no extras.